158: Chapter 157 Stewed Bear Paw

Lu Fan's mind was filled with warm images of returning to the Shelter and sitting around a cozy campfire with An Lan, happily enjoying a grand feast of bear meat.

As he thought about it, the corners of his mouth unconsciously curled up, and a happy smile spread across his face, as if the enticing aroma of meat was already lingering at the tip of his nose.

Finally, Lu Fan arrived at the Shelter.

An Lan had long been waiting at the entrance, looking out expectantly. Seeing Lu Fan dragging back so much bear meat from afar, her eyes instantly widened in surprise and delight.

She shouted excitedly, "Wow, so much! We're in for a real treat! We'll definitely have a hearty meal tonight!"

Lu Fan smiled as he unloaded the bear meat one by one. Standing side by side with An Lan next to the bear meat, they began to seriously discuss how to handle these ingredients.

His gaze fell upon those two bear paws, and he said with a hint of anticipation, "An Lan, I've always wanted to taste bear paw. Since neither of us has ever made it, we'll just have to figure it out as we go and research it together. Who knows, we might even create a unique delicacy!"

No sooner said than done, Lu Fan first washed the bear paws carefully with water again.

He noticed that although the hair on the bear paws had been singed before, some small bits of fine down still remained.

So, he propped the bear paws over the fire and patiently burned off the remaining down with a torch.

This process wasn't easy; there was down hidden even in the crevices of the claws. It took him quite a long time to finish, but he kept thinking to himself: "For the sake of this gourmet meal, I can't give up."

After washing, the next step was to remove the hard shells of the bear paws.

Lu Fan took his dagger and carefully cut along the edges of the hard shells, afraid with every stroke that he might cut into the meat inside.

An Lan watched nervously from the side, reminding him from time to time, "Be careful, don't hurt your hand."

After some effort, the hard shells were finally removed completely, revealing the tender, pink bear paw meat inside.

Next was the cooking phase. Lu Fan recalled some cooking methods he had seen in books before and decided to blanch the bear paws first.

He placed the bear paws in a pot, added an appropriate amount of water, and specifically added a few slices of ginger and sections of green onion, hoping to remove some of the gaminess.

After the water boiled, a lot of foam rose in the pot. Lu Fan quickly used a spoon to skim it off, saying with a laugh as he did so, "This looks just like stewing pig's trotters."

Looking at the water gradually becoming clear in the pot, he breathed a sigh of relief: "The first step went quite smoothly."

The blanched bear paws already seemed to have changed a bit, their color becoming more vibrant.

Lu Fan began to prepare various spices. He dug out his collection of Mint, bay leaves, chili pepper, lemon leaves, and so on—taking whatever he had and laying them out one by one on the table.

An Lan helped from the side, washing and crushing the spices.

Looking at these spices, Lu Fan joked, "These spices are all my treasures, and today I'm bringing them all out to treat these bear paws."

With everything ready, Lu Fan placed the blanched bear paws into a clay pot.

He added the spices he had just prepared, poured in some salt, added ginger and Wild Green Onion, and finally added the right amount of water. He covered the pot and began to simmer it over a low flame.

While watching the heat, he said to An Lan, "bear paw must be stewed slowly for the flavor to really soak in."

While waiting, Lu Fan and An Lan began to process the rest of the bear meat.

They cut the bear meat suitable for grilling into small pieces, skewered them on bamboo sticks, and rubbed them with some salt and crushed chili pepper, preparing to roast them over the fire later.

The bear meat suitable for stewing was placed into another pot with some vegetables and seasonings to start a bear meat soup.

Various aromas permeated the Shelter. Big Horn and Flash were constantly wagging their tails on the side, almost drooling.

From time to time, they would lean in toward the pots to catch a scent, only to be laughingly shooed away by Lu Fan: "Don't be in such a hurry, you can eat once it's finished."

As time passed bit by bit, the bear paws in the clay pot gradually emitted an enticing fragrance.

Lu Fan opened the lid, and a rich aroma wafted toward him. He poked the bear paws with his chopsticks and found that they had become very soft.

He tasted a bit of the broth. Although the flavor was already quite good, he felt it was still missing something.

At that moment, An Lan had a sudden inspiration and said, "How about we add some honey? Maybe it'll make the flavor even more unique."

Lu Fan thought it was a good idea, so he added some honey, stirred it evenly, and continued to simmer it for a while longer.

Finally, the bear paws were ready. Lu Fan placed them on a plate, sliced them thinly with a knife, and set them on the table.

An Lan also brought over the grilled bear meat skewers and the cooked bear meat soup. Looking at this table full of sumptuous food, both of them were filled with anticipation.

They first took a bite of the bear paw. That tender texture and rich flavor left them completely enchanted.

"So delicious!" Lu Fan couldn't help but praise. "An Lan, your idea was really great. After adding the honey, the flavor has gone up a level."

An Lan also smiled happily: "I didn't expect our first time making bear paw to be so successful."

Next, they ate the grilled bear meat skewers and the bear meat soup, praising every single dish.

Big Horn and Flash also got their share of the feast and ate with great relish.

Seeing this table of sumptuous bear meat feast, the audience members sent barrage comments expressing their envy.

"Wow, it looks so delicious, I'm drooling."

"Lu Fan and An Lan are too amazing, to actually be able to make such delicious bear paw."

"Why isn't there a lucky draw for that Brown Bear meat yet?"

"What are you thinking? A lucky draw? It's definitely for internal consumption."

"Hey, person above, where exactly is this 'internal' you're talking about?"

After the meal, An Lan walked softly to the side and carefully took the Bear Gall out of a basket lined with soft leaves.

The Bear Gall was in the shape of a long, flattened egg, narrow at the top and enlarged at the bottom, about 10 to 20 centimeters long and 5 to 8 centimeters wide.

Its surface was grayish-brown, and it looked very lustrous under the light.

She turned to look at Lu Fan, her eyes full of joy: "Now that this Bear Gall has been processed, it's a rare medicinal ingredient.

Bear Gall has a strong heat-clearing and detoxifying effect. It can be used to treat symptoms like sores, carbuncles, sore throats, and red, swollen eyes caused by the accumulation of heat toxins. It helps clear heat toxins from the body and relieves symptoms like redness, swelling, heat, and pain.

It can also be used to treat internal liver wind, convulsions, and epilepsy. It can calm liver wind and relieve muscle spasms and tremors.

I had only ever read about it in books before; this is my first time handling the real thing."

Lu Fan rubbed his chin and said, "This thing can also improve eyesight, right?"

An Lan looked at Lu Fan in surprise: "You're impressive, you even know about that."

Lu Fan chuckled: "In the past, I used to stay up late every day playing on my phone, and my eyes couldn't take it. A friend recommended Bear Gall eye drops to me. They felt cool and refreshing when dripped into the eyes."

Hearing Lu Fan's answer, An Lan burst out laughing with a 'pfft'.